Hot Chocolate (band)
| genre = |title=Biography by Ron Wynn |publisher=Allmusic.com |accessdate=25 July 2011}} }} | years_active = | label = | associated_acts = | website = | current_members = Patrick Olive Tony Connor Harvey Hinsley Steve Ansell Andy Smith Kennie Simon | past_members = Errol Brown Tony Wilson Franklyn DeAllie Jim King Larry Ferguson Brian Satterwhite Grant Evelyn Greg Bannis Willy Dowling Steve Matthews Derek Lewis }} Hot Chocolate are a British soul band popular during the 1970s and 1980s, formed by Errol Brown and Tony Wilson. The act had at least one hit every year from 1970 to 1984, and their song "You Sexy Thing" made the Top 10 in three decades. Beginnings Formed in 1968, the band initially consisted of vocalist Errol Brown, guitarist Franklyn De Allie, drummer Jim King (shortly thereafter replaced by the unrelated Ian King), percussionist Patrick Olive, and bassist Tony Wilson; with keyboardist Larry Ferguson joining the band in the following year. The band was originally named "Hot Chocolate Band" by Mavis Smith, who worked for the Apple Corps press office. This was quickly shortened first to "The Hot Chocolate" and then to "Hot Chocolate" by Mickie Most. By 1970 the band's line-up had changed again to include Harvey Hinsley and Tony Connor (who was also a member of Audience at the time) replacing De Allie and King respectively. Hot Chocolate started their recording career making a reggae version of John Lennon's "Give Peace a Chance", but frontman Errol Brown was told he needed permission. He was contacted by Apple Records, discovered that Lennon liked his version, and the group was subsequently signed to Apple Records. The link was short-lived as the Beatles were starting to break up; and consequently the Apple connection soon ended. Later in 1970 Hot Chocolate, with the help of record producer Mickie Most, began releasing tracks that became hits, such as "Love Is Life", "Emma", "You Could Have Been a Lady" (a U.S. and Canadian hit for April Wine), and "I Believe in Love". All those releases were on the Rak record label, owned by Most. Brown and bassist Tony Wilson wrote most of their original material, and also provided hits for Herman's Hermits, "Bet Yer Life I Do", and Mary Hopkin, "Think About Your Children". Gradually the five-piece Brixton-based outfit started to become UK Singles Chart regulars. "Brother Louie", which featured a guest spoken vocal from Alexis Korner, and "Emma" introduced the act. Success It was in the disco era of the mid-1970s that Hot Chocolate became a big success. A combination of high production standards, the growing confidence of the main songwriting team of Wilson and Brown, and tight vocal harmonies enabled them to secure further big hits such as "You Sexy Thing" and "Every 1's a Winner", which were also U.S. hits, peaking at #3 (1976) and #6 (1979), respectively. "Every 1's a Winner" featured a distinctive distorted guitar riff by Harvey Hinsley using a Roland GR-500. After Wilson's departure for a solo career, that included a 1976 album I Like Your Style, Brown assumed all songwriting duties. Wilson was initially replaced by Brian Satterwhite; before Satterwhite departed the band and Olive switched to bass as his primary instrument. In 1977, after 15 hits, they finally reached Number One with "So You Win Again". It was one of the few of their recordings that was not written, at least partly, by Brown. The track was a Russ Ballard composition. The band became the only group, and one of just three acts, that had a hit in every year of the 1970s in the UK charts (the other two being Elvis Presley and Diana Ross). The band eventually had at least one hit, every year, between 1970 and 1984. Critically, they were often lambasted or simply ignored, and apart from compilations their albums such as Cicero Park sold modestly. The band continued well into the 1980s, and clocked up another big hit record: "It Started with a Kiss", in 1982, which reached Number 5 in the UK. In all, the group charted 25 UK Top 40 hit singles. Their single "You Sexy Thing" became the only track that made British Top Ten status in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Later years Its renewed appreciation can be credited in part to its appearances in a string of successful films starting with the 1997 comedy The Full Monty, and in a 1989 acne lotion commercial (featuring a young Patsy Palmer). From the late 1980s onwards the group experienced a resurgence of credibility: Urge Overkill, PJ Harvey and the Sisters of Mercy all added Hot Chocolate songs to their live sets, and Cud's cover of "You Sexy Thing" featured in John Peel's Festive 50. Errol Brown and Larry Ferguson departed the band in 1986; ultimately leading the group to disband. Brown then began a solo career. Two of his singles made the UK Singles Chart - "Personal Touch" and "Body Rockin'". Hot Chocolate had a hit in 1988 in Germany. "Never Pretend" was written by Harvey Hinsley and Susan Stuttard, and the vocalist was Grant Evelyn. The band's enduring popularity was verified when two compilation albums both reached #1 in the UK Albums Chart (see below). In 2003, Errol Brown received the MBE; and in 2004, the Ivor Novello Award for his contribution to British music. In 1992 the band reformed with new vocalist Greg Bannis and keyboardists Steve Ansell, Andy Smith, Willy Dowling, and Steve Matthews (the latter two of which departed the band in 1994), and manager and agent Ric Martin took control over the band's bookings and live appearances. Kennie Simon took over lead vocals in 2010 following the departure of Bannis and Hot Chocolate continue to make live appearances in the UK and Europe. On 6 May 2015, original frontman and principal songwriter Errol Brown died from liver cancer. He was 71. Personnel Members ;Current members *Patrick Olive - percussion (1968–1984, 1988, 1992–present), bass (1975–1984, 1988, 1992–present) *Tony Connor - drums, percussion (1970–1986, 1988, 1992–present) *Harvey Hinsley - guitars (1970–1986, 1988, 1992–present) *Steve Ansell - keyboards, guitars (1994–present) *Andy Smith - keyboards (1994–present) *Kennie Simon - lead vocals, keyboards (2010–present) ;Former members *Errol Brown - lead vocals (1968–1986) *Tony Wilson - bass, lead vocals (1968–1975) *Franklyn De Allie - guitars (1968–1970) *Jim King - drums, percussion (1968-1970) *Larry Ferguson - keyboards (1969–1986) *Derek Lewis - percussion, backing vocals (1975) *Brian Satterwhite - bass, backing vocals (1975) *Grant Evelyn - lead vocals (1988) *Greg Bannis - lead vocals (1992–2010) *Willy Dowling - keyboards, backing vocals (1992–1994) *Steve Matthews - keyboards, backing vocals (1992–1994) Line-ups Timeline ImageSize = width:800 height:auto barincrement:20 PlotArea = left:90 bottom:80 top:0 right:20 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1968 till:01/01/2017 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1968 Colors = id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitar id:Piano value:purple legend:Keyboards id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums id:Perc value:claret legend:Percussion id:Albums value:black legend:Studio_Releases BarData = bar:Errol text:Errol Brown bar:Grant text:Grant Evelyn bar:Greg text:Greg Bannis bar:Kennie text:Kennie Simon bar:Franklyn text:Franklyn De Allie bar:Harvey text:Harvey Hinsley bar:Larry text:Larry Ferguson bar:Willy text:Willy Dowling bar:Steve2 text:Steve Matthews bar:Steve text:Steve Ansell bar:Andy text:Andy Smith bar:Tony text:Tony Wilson bar:Brian text:Brian Satterwhite bar:Patrick text:Patrick Olive bar:Derek text:Derek Lewis bar:Jim text:Jim King bar:Tony2 text:Tony Connor PlotData= width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Errol from:start till:01/01/1986 color:vocals bar:Grant from:01/01/1988 till:31/12/1988 color:vocals bar:Greg from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/2010 color:vocals bar:Kennie from:01/01/2010 till:end color:vocals bar:Kennie from:01/01/2010 till:end color:piano width:3 bar:Franklyn from:start till:01/01/1970 color:guitar bar:Harvey from:01/01/1970 till:01/01/1986 color:guitar bar:Harvey from:01/01/1988 till:31/12/1988 color:guitar bar:Harvey from:01/01/1992 till:end color:guitar bar:Larry from:01/01/1969 till:01/01/1986 color:piano bar:Steve from:01/01/1994 till:end color:piano bar:Steve from:01/01/1994 till:end color:guitar width:3 bar:Andy from:01/01/1994 till:end color:piano bar:Willy from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1994 color:piano bar:Willy from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1994 color:vocals width:3 bar:Steve2 from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1994 color:piano bar:Steve2 from:01/01/1992 till:01/01/1994 color:vocals width:3 bar:Tony from:start till:01/01/1975 color:bass bar:Tony from:start till:01/01/1975 color:vocals width:3 bar:Brian from:01/01/1975 till:01/07/1975 color:bass bar:Brian from:01/01/1975 till:01/07/1975 color:vocals width:3 bar:Patrick from:start till:01/07/1975 color:perc bar:Patrick from:01/07/1975 till:01/01/1986 color:bass bar:Patrick from:01/07/1975 till:01/01/1986 color:perc width:3 bar:Patrick from:01/01/1988 till:31/12/1988 color:bass bar:Patrick from:01/01/1988 till:31/12/1988 color:perc width:3 bar:Patrick from:01/01/1992 till:end color:bass bar:Patrick from:01/01/1992 till:end color:perc width:3 bar:Derek from:01/01/1975 till:01/07/1975 color:perc bar:Derek from:01/01/1975 till:01/07/1975 color:vocals width:3 bar:Jim from:start till:01/01/1970 color:drums bar:Jim from:start till:01/01/1970 color:perc width:3 bar:Tony2 from:01/01/1970 till:01/01/1986 color:drums bar:Tony2 from:01/01/1970 till:01/01/1986 color:perc width:3 bar:Tony2 from:01/01/1988 till:31/12/1988 color:drums bar:Tony2 from:01/01/1988 till:31/12/1988 color:perc width:3 bar:Tony2 from:01/01/1992 till:end color:drums bar:Tony2 from:01/01/1992 till:end color:perc width:3 LineData = at:01/06/1974 color:black layer:back at:01/11/1975 color:black layer:back at:01/08/1976 color:black layer:back at:01/04/1978 color:black layer:back at:01/06/1979 color:black layer:back at:01/06/1980 color:black layer:back at:01/09/1982 color:black layer:back at:01/10/1983 color:black layer:back at:01/06/1993 color:black layer:back Discography ;Studio Albums All albums released by Rak Records unless otherwise noted. * Cicero Park (1974) * Hot Chocolate (1975) * Man to Man (1976) * Every 1’s a Winner (1978) * Going Through the Motions (1979) * Class (1980) * Mystery (1982) * Love Shot (1983) * Strictly Dance (1993, Polydor) References External links *Errol Brown's site *Hot Chocolate's site *[http://www.bluesandsoul.com/feature/377/errol_brown_a_fondent_farewell/ Errol Brown interview by Pete Lewis, Blues & Soul February 2009] *The Complete Apple Records *Hot Chocolate on Discogs.com Category:Musical groups established in 1969 Category:Apple Records artists Category:British disco groups Category:English pop music groups Category:Musical groups from London Category:British rhythm and blues musical groups Category:Rak Records artists Category:Big Tree Records artists